In total hip replacement, that is, wherein both the ball and socket portions of the hip are replaced with prosthetic components, it is now conventional to use an implant having an intramedullary stem on the femoral side. This stem transitions into a neck and terminates into the ball portion, which engages with acetabulum of the pelvis.
For many reasons, it is difficult to align the components associated with total hip replacement prior to fixation. As a result, the surgical protocol used in conjunction with such procedures often resorts to considerable trial-and-error positioning steps, freehand trimming of host bone, and other time-consuming imprecise steps based largely on the skill and experience of the attending physician. Although modular implants are now used which permit incremental changes in leg length through tapered head attachment to the neck of the stem, many complications have arisen out of such modularity, including dissociation, wear, osteolysis, and implant fracture. Without question any process or instrumentation capable of bringing about more predictable results and accurate alignment in a shorter period of time would be welcome by the medical community.